Packaging machine



INVENTOR.

HIS ATTORNEYS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 G. E. EUWE PACKAGING MACHINE Oct. 20, 1964 Filed May 23, 1960 GERFUT EVERT EUWE Oct. 20, 1964 G. E. EuwE 3,153,309

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed May 23, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

GE RR IT EVERT EUWE HIS ATTORNEYSY Oct. 20, 1964 G. E. EuwE PACKAGING MACHINE Filed May 23., 1960 INVENToR,

GERRIT EVERT UWE H IS AT TORN EYS United States Patent O Fried May z3, issu, ser. No. 30,911 4 Ciaims. (ci. sai-iss) This invention relates to the tield of packaging. ln particular, the invention relates to erecting a hat-folded carton and positioning Ithe erected carton ready for its contents to be inserted.

The invention is mainly concerned with flat-folded cartons which can be formed into rectangular parallelepiped boxes which, for example, can be used as outer casings.

- According to one aspect of the invention there is pro- Y vided a machine comprising an erecting section for erecting a at-folded carton leaving one Vend open, a filling section Where contents can be filled into the erected carton, transporting means for transporting the car-ton from the erecting section to the filling section so that the carton enters they filling ysection moving parallel to .an edge of vthe carton at said open end, and pivoting means for pivoting the carton at the filling section about an axis parallel to said edge so that the flaps of the carton at said open endcan engage over contents'awaiting to be lled therein or a chute through which said contents can pass.`

Said `iiaps preferably engage Iover the contents or the chute for the full length of the flaps, but they may only engage over for part of the length of the flaps. It is to be understood `that when said aps engage over said contents or chute, they do not necessarily contact said contents or chute.

The arrangement can be such that during the transport of the carton from the erecting section to the lling section one side of the carton moves in one plane. Preferably this plane makes an acute angle to a horizontal plane land then the arrangement may be such that at the end of said pivoting operation, said open end of the carton being pivoted is in a vertical plane. l

Thetransporting means can comprise a reciprocable transporter member provided with an arm, the arrangei ment being such that in. operation the arm engages the carton at the erecting section and transports this carton in a straight line parallel to said axis to the iilling section during an advancing stroke of the transporter member, the transporter member then rotating about a line parallel to said straight line toy move the arm out of the path of the carton so that during the return stroke of the transporter member the arm passes by the next car-ton at the erecting section.

'The machine can include a storage section comprising a hopper for storing a stack of the flat-folded cartons, the transporting means being arranged to transport the bottom carton of said stack to the erecting section when the carton at the erecting section is transported to the filling section. The transporter member can be provided with any nissart Patented 9ct. Z0, i964 ICC ing cartons from the machine, the pivoting means being arranged to bring the carton at the iilling section after said pivoting operation back to the position in which it entered the filling section, and the transporting means being arranged thereupon to transport this carton in said straight line from this latter position -to the ejection section. This ejection section can comprise a roller conveyor which is usually in an inoperative position but is arranged to be turned into an operative position each time said pivoting operation is performed.

The filling section can comprise a cage arranged to receive the erected carton from the erecting section, the pivoting means being arranged to pivot the cage about said axis. The erecting section can comprise a wedge which is arranged to penetrate between and partly separate two adjacent end llaps of the carton when in the Hat-folded state, and a part, preferably a pin, which is arranged to penetrate between said separated end llaps and the sides of the carton to which these flaps are attached and to pivot one of these sides relative to the other.

Preferably, said axisis horizontal and the transporting means is arranged to transport the cartons in a horizontal straight line.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provideda method of filling a flat-folded carton with contents comprising erecting the flat-folded carton leaving one end open, moving the erected car-ton in a direction so that la side of the carton adjacent said open end moves in one plane, said moving stoppingwhen said open end is opposite said contents or a chute through which said contents can' pass, pivoting the car-ton about an axis external to the carton and parallel to said direction so that the aps at said open end engage over the contents or the chute, and then filling the carton with said contents.

The invention will now be particularly described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a plan of a packaging machine according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section on the line II-II of HG- URE l and shows the storagel section;

FIGURE Bris a cross-section on the line Ill- Ill of FIGURE l and shows the erecting section;

FIGURE 4 shows two views of part of the mechanism for erecting the flat-folded cartons;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-section on the line V-V of FIG- URE l and shows the filling section; and

FIGURE 6 is a cross-section on the line Vi-VI of FIGURE I and shows the ejecting section.

FlGURE l shows the layout of the machine in which the storage section l comprises a hopper Z (FIGURE 2) which holds a stack of at-folded cartons 3. With each cycle of the machine the bottom at-folded carton of the stack is withdrawn and transported to the erecting section 4 Where the carton is erected, this comprising successively opening the flat-folded carton, closing the narrow bottom iiaps 5 and 6, and partly closing the broad bottom llaps 7 and 8. With Vthe next cycle of the machine f the erected carton with closed bottom flaps 5, 6, 7, 8 and open top iiaps 9, l0, ll and i2 is transported to the filling section 13. At the same time the next hat-folded carton is transported from the hopper 2 to the erecting section 4. At the lling section 13 the contents for one carton are put into the erected carton. Then the illed carton is transported to the ejecting section 14 with the next cycle of the machine.

The cartons are transported from section to section through the machine in a horizontal direction and in such a way that the lower side of each carton, that is the side carrying the iiaps 8 and 12 (FIGURES 3, 5 and 6), is moved in one plane which makes an acute angle to Ia horizontal plane. In this way, the extended top iiaps 9, 10, 11 and 12 at the open end of the carton can freely pass a stack of articles 15 (FIGURE 5) until said open end is opposite these articles. Then, by pivoting the carton about a horizontal axis external to the carton, the iiaps 9, 10, 11, 12 at the open end can engage over the end of the stack of articles 15. Y

The machine will now be described in greater detail.

The cartons are transported through the' machine by a transporting means which comprises a shaft 16 rotatably mounted in bearings 17 and 18. The shaft 16 is provided with two axial keys 19 and 20 which are fixed diametrically opposite each other and serve as guides for a reciprocable transporter member 21 in the form of a beam of U-section. The beam carries supports 22, 23 provided with key-seats which slidably engage the keys 19, 20. The transporter member 21 is reciprocated by an aircylinder 24 arranged parallel to the shaft 16 and secured at one end to the member 21 and at the other end to the shaft 16.

The shaft 16 together with the slide 21 and air-cylinder 24 can be rotated in either direction by an air-cylinder 25 (FIGURE of which one end is pivoted to the framework of the machine and the other end is pivoted to an arm 26 rigidly connected to the shaft 16. When the cylinder 25 is actuated in such a way that its piston rod is forced out, the shaft 16 is rotated clockwise in FIGURES 2, 3, 5 and 6 to move the cylinder 24 from the position shown in FIGURE 3 by full lines to that in dotted lines. When the cylinder 25 is actuated in such a way that its piston rod is retracted, the shaft 16 is rotated Ianti-clockwise until again it occupies the position shown in FIG- URES 2, 3, Sand 6.

To move the bottom flat-folded carton at the storage section 1 to the erecting section 4, the slide 21 is provided with an arm 27 in the form of a narrow plate, as shown in FIGURE 2. To transport an erected carton from the erecting section 4 to the filling section 13 land a filled carton from section 13 to the ejecting sectio-n 14 simultaneously, the slide is provided with further arms 28 and 29, respectively, which are also in the form of pusher plates as shown in dotted lines in FIGURES 3 and 5.

Transport of the cartons from section to section takes place during the advancing stroke of the slide 21 which is effected by actuating the cylinder 24 to retract its piston rod whilst |the shaft 16 occupies the position shown in full lines in FIGURE 3. At the end of this advancing stroke cylinder 25 is actuated to rotate shaft 16 clockwise (FIGURES 2, 3, 5 and 6) thus also rotating clockwise slide 21 and the pusher plates 27, 28 and 29 until the cylinder 24 has reached the position indicated by` dotted lines in FIGURE 3. In this position of the shaft, the pusher plates 27, 28 and 29 are outside the path of the cartons, so that when cylinder 24 is thereupon actuated to effect the return stroke of the slide 21, to the left in FIGURE 1, the pusher plates 27, 28 and 29 pass by the cartons which are thus not moved by this return stroke. After the end of the return stroke, the cylinder 25 is actuated to rotate the shaft 16 anti-clockwise back to the position shown in full lines in FIGURE 3 to commence the next cycle. The pusher plate 27 is very narrow as it only transports the bottom flat-folded carton from the hopper 2. Pusher plate 29 is also relatively narrow because the filled carton it transports from section 13 to section 14 is fairly rigid so that the surface of contact between plate 29 and the filled carton need not be very large. Plate 28, however, which serves to convey an empty erected carton which has one end opened and is, therefore, easily deformable, must have a large surface so that a considerable part of a side of the empty carton is contacted by the plate 28 during the advancing stroke.

The mechanism for erecting a flat-folded carton at section 4 comprises two wedges 30 and 31 which are arranged on either side of the shaft 16. The part of each block coming into contact with the carton at this section has the shape of a ltriangular pyramid as shown in FIG- URES 1 and 3. The wedges 30 and 31 are rotatable on shafts 32 and 33 which are parallel to the shaft 16. The shafts are mounted in supports 34 and 35, respectively, which are in turn attached to the framework of the machine. The block 31- can be moved by an air-cylinder 36 from the position shown -in full lines in FIGURE 3 to the position shown in dotted lines and vice versa; the wedge 3Q can be moved -in a similar way by an air-cylinder 37. The arrangement lis such that whilst the cartons are being moved simultaneously from section 1 to section 4, from section 4 to section 13, and from section 13 to section 14, the wedges 30 and 31 are in a raised position. In other words, in a position corresponding with the position of wedge 31 as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 3, the wedges thereby remaining outside the path of transport of the cartons. After the foremost edge 38 of a flat-folded carton has passed the wedges 30 and 31 during the transport of this carton from section 1 to section 4, but before the folding line 39 of this carton passes these wedges, the wedges are swung down to press against the flaps 7 and 11 and to take up the position shown in full lines in FIG- URES l and 3. Further movement of the flat-folded car- Iton causes the Wedges 30 and 31 to be inserted between the bottom aps 5 and 8, and between the top flaps 9 and 12, respectively. When the advancing movement of this carton to section 4 is completed, the blocks 30, 31 are in the position shown in FIGURE l having partially separated these pairs of adjacent flaps, the under-flaps 8 and 12 being pressed down. A pin' 40, near wedge 31, is then inserted between the top flaps 9 and 12 and between the sides of the carton attached to these flaps, as shown in FIGURE 1. To effect this insertion, the pin 40 is moved axially by the piston of an air-cylinder 41 to which it is attached. The cylinder 41 is secured to a support 42 (FIGURE 4) which is pivotable on a shaft 43 whose axis is parallel to the plane along which the cartons are transported but is at right angles to the direction of transport of the cartons. The support 42 is pivoted upwards through by an air-cylinder 44 after the pin 40 has been inserted between the sides of the carton, as a result of which the carton is entirely opened. During this movement of the pin 40, the carton is held in position by the plate 27, and the wedges 30 and 31 remain in contact with the iiaps 8 and 12. Thereupon, the narrow bottom aps 5 and 6 are closed by rollers 47 mounted on closing arms 45 and 46 which are linked together and secured on rotatable shafts 48 and 49, respectively. The closing arms 45 and 46 are pivoted linwards from the position shown in FIGURE 1 to that shown in FIGURE 3 by an aircylinder 50 which is pivotally attached to an arm 51 rigidly secured to the shaft 49. As soon as the narrow bottom aps 5 and 6 have been folded inwards and the wedges 30 and 31 have been returned to their raised position, the wide bottom flaps 7 and 8 are simultaneously folded partly inwards until they have reached the partly closed position shown in FIGURE 3. The ap 8 is folded inwards by a pivoted arm 52 which is actuated by an air-cylinder 53. The flap 7 is folded inwards by an arm 54 pivoted intermediate its length at 56 and actuated by an air-cylinder 58 pivotally Iattached at 57 to the arm 54, the other end of the air-cylinder 58 being pivotally attached to the framework of the machine. A rod 59 is pivotally attached at one end to the -arm 54 at 55. The other end of the rod 59 is pivotally attached to a hookshaped arm 61 which is pivoted at 60 to the framework of the machine. As shown -in FIGURE 3, the construction is such that when the cylinder 58 is actuated to turn the arm 54 about the pivot 56 in a clockwise direction to fold the flap 7 into the position shown, the hook end 62 of the lever 61 folds the tiap' 11 slightly outwards to the position shown. Whilst the bottom flaps of the opened carton are being closed, the shaft 16 is firstrotated by the cylinder 2S to bring theplates 27, 28-and-29below the path `of the cartons, after Vwhich the cylinder 24 returns the slide 21 together with the plates 27, 28 and 29 into the position shown in FIGURE l. Thereupon, the cylinder 25 rotates the-shaft 16 anti-clockwise in FIGURE 3 to return the cylinder 24 tothe position shown in full lines and so also return the plates 27, 28 and,29 back -into the path of the cartons. Thus, as soonasa carton has been erected as in FIGURE 3, the slide 21 is ready again for the next transport cycle, whereby together with the supply of a new flat-folded carton from the hopper 2 by the plate 27, the erected carton is transported by the plate 28 from the erecting section 4 to the filling section 13. Naturally, the pin-40 will have been withdrawn by cylinder 41 beforehand and the arms' 45, 46, 52, 54 and the lever 61 will have been moved out of the path of the moving cartons at the appropriate time.

The filling section 13 comprises a cage 63 consisting of a central tube 64 which has a bend 65 at one end and rigidly secured to a frame 66 at the other end. The frame 66 is provided with downwardly extending arms 67 which are pivoted at their lower ends on a shaft 68, The axis of the shaft 68 is parallel to that of the shaft 16 and con sequently is parallel to the two longer edges of the carbo-n (FIGURE 5) at its open end, that is parallel to the Vlong free edges of the fiaps 11 and 12. Furthermore, the axis of the shaft 68 coincides with the line of intersection of the plane through the free edges of the flaps 9, 10, 11 and 12 in FIGURE 5 and a vertical plane through the stack of articles awaiting to be inserted into the carton, this vertical plane being spaced from the end of the stack 15 by approximately the length of the flaps 9, 10, 11, 12 and being the vertical plane into which the open end of the carton is pivoted for its flaps to engage over the stack 15. To support a carton in the cage 63 a number of supports 70 are attached to the tube 64 and a support 71 is carried by an arm 72 attached rigidly to the frame 66. A link 73 is pivotally attached atan end to one of the arms 67 and is pivotally attached :at the other end to the piston rod of the air-cylinder at the point where the piston rod is also pivoted to the arm 26. These parts have been arranged in such a way that when the cylinder 25 is actuated to rotate the shaft 16 clockwise, the cage 63 is pivoted about the shaft 68 in an anti-clockwise direction (FIGURE 5) until the cage 63 has reached the position shown schematically by dotted lines in FIGURE 5. The open end of the carton in the cage 63 is thereby pushed over the end of the stack of objects 15 and also over the discharge end of la chute 74 surrounding this end of the stack 15. During this pivoting operation of the cage 63,

the iiap 1'1 is held slightly back as shown in FIGURE 5 Y by a U-section guide 75 secured .to the cage, the flap 11 entering this guide 75 when the'carton was transported from section 4 to section 13. The fiap` 12 is automatically spread slightly outwards during the pivoting operation by the support of the stack 15 or by fthe base of the chute 74, whilst the fiaps 9 Iand 10 are spread slightly outwards by .spreaders 76 hinged to the frame 66. These spreaders are spring biased to the position shown in FIGURE l,

`but during the pivoting operation of the cage the spreadvice,(not shown) until the front 69 of the stack has 6 The ejecting section 14 is formed by an ejector table 77 (FIGURE 6) consisting of a platform 78 with a perpendicularly attached side 79 formed by a roller couveyor. The ejectorv table can pivot on a shaft 80 which has been arranged in such a way that the roller onveyor 79, when the table is pivoted to `the position shown byy dottedlines in FIGURE 6, slopes in the conveying-direction ofthe rollers. The filled `carton thus automatically moves down the rollerrconveyor 79 and is ejected from the machine, for example onto an endless belt conveyor.

The pivoting mechanism for the ejector table 77 comprises an arm 81 rigidly secured to the platform 78, the

end of the arm 81 being pivotally attached to one end of a rod 82. The other end of the rod 82 is pivotally attached to an arm 83 rigidly secured to the 'shaft 16. Thus, when shaft 16 is rotated clockwise by the cylinder 25, the table 77 is rotated clockwise to the ejecting position shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 6. When the shaft 16 is next rotated anticlockwise, the table is returned to the position shown in full lines in FIGURE 6.

Thus, whilst the shaft 16 is at the end of its clockwise movement and is in the position in which the cylinder 24 occupies the position in broken lines in FIGURE 3, the articles 15are inserted into the carton at section 13, the filled carton at section 14 is ejected down the roller conveyor 79, and the slide 21 executes its return jstroke, all simultaneously. The shaft 16 is then rotated reached the bottom of the carton in the cage 63. Then p the cage is pivoted lback again by the cylinder 25 into the position shown by full lines in FIGURE 5, thus returning the carton to the position iu which it entered section 13. During the next transport vcycle of slide 21, the pusher plate 29 transports the filled carton out of 'the cage 63 to the ejecting section 14. Y

anti-clockwise, the slide 21 actuated to execute its advancing stroke to advancethe carton at each section to the next section, the fiat-folded carton entering section 4 is erected, and finally the shaft 16 is rotated clockwise. The cycle of operations can then be repeated.

The actuation of the cylinder 25 to rotate the shaft 16 anti-clockwise and introduce a new working cycle of the machine can be given by an attendant, but is preferably given by an interconnected stacking machine arranged to build up the stack of objects 15 and push this stack forward and into the carton covering the end of the stack.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine comprising a hopper for containing a stack of flat-folded cartons so that the bottom fiat-folded carton is in a plane which is inclined at an acute angle to a horizontal plane, an erecting section forerecting a said nat-folded carton leaving the flaps at one end open, a filling section where a said erected carton can be filled, the filling section comprising pivoting means for pivoting a said erected carton at the filling section about a horizontal axis with said openend leading so that this carton moves from a position in which one of its sides is in said inclined plane to a filling position in which said one side is in a horizontal plane, said pivoting means being arranged to return this carton after lling to the position it occupied before said pivoting, and transporting means for successively transporting a carton from said hopper to said erecting section, from said erecting section to said filling section, and then transporting the filled carton from the filling section, all this transporting taking place iu a horizontal direction parallel to said axis and with said one lside of the carton moving in said inclined plane.

2. A machine as claimed in'claim 1 in which saidV transporting means'comprises a reciprocable member, three arms on said reciprocable member for engaging and transporting Vsimultaneously during a transport stroke a tiet-folded carton in said hopper, an erected carton at said erecting section and a filled carton at said filling section.

' 7 4. A machine as claimed in claim 3 in which said 2,043,411 illing section includes a pivotable cage for supporting the 2,223,754 carton at this section. 2,289,820

References Cited in the le of this patent 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,651,898 1,243,406 Hawthorne Oct. `16, 1917 2,747,353 1,948,751 Fenner Feb. 27, 1934 2,851,837 1,979,207 Miimoe Oct. 30, 1934 2,864,386 2,029,935 Miimoe Feb. 4, 1936 10 2,935,918

8 Kimball June 9, 1936 Waters Dec. 3, 1940 Ardell July 14, 1942 Rice et al.V July 3, 1951 Bowes Oct. 7, 1952 Kimball Sept. 15, 1953 Shibata May 29, 1956 Ardell et al Sept. 16, 1958 Allen Dec. 16, 1958 Goss May 10, 1960 

1. A MACHINE COMPRISING A HOPPER FOR CONTAINING A STACK OF FLAT-FOLDED CARTONS SO THAT THE BOTTOM FLAT-FOLDED CARTON IS IN A PLANE WHICH IS INCLINED AT AN ACUTE ANGLE TO A HORIZONTAL PLANE, AN ERECTING SECTION FOR ERECTING A SAID FLAT-FOLDED CARTON LEAVING THE FLAPS AT ONE END OPEN, A FILLING SECTION WHERE A SAID ERECTED CARTON CAN BE FILLED, THE FILLING SECTION COMPRISING PIVOTING MEANS FOR PIVOTING A SAID ERECTED CARTON AT THE FILLING SECTION ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS WITH SAID OPEN END LEADING SO THAT THIS CARTON MOVES FROM A POSITION IN WHICH ONE OF ITS SIDES IS IN SAID INCLINED PLANE TO A FILLING POSITION IN WHICH SAID ONE SIDE IS IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE, SAID PIVOTING MEANS BEING ARRANGED TO RETURN THIS CARTON AFTER FILLING TO THE POSITION IT OCCUPIED BEFORE SAID PIVOTING, AND TRANSPORTING MEANS FOR SUCCESSIVELY TRANSPORTING A CARTON FROM SAID HOPPER TO SAID ERECTING SECTION, FROM SAID ERECTING SECTION TO SAID FILLING SECTION, AND THEN TRANSPORTING THE FILLED CARTON FROM THE FILLING SECTION, ALL THIS TRANSPORTING TAKING PLACE IN A HORIZONTAL DIRECTION PARALLEL TO SAID AXIS AND WITH SAID ONE SIDE OF THE CARTON MOVING IN SAID INCLINED PLANE. 